Press release

Support for asylum seekers


In Institution Citizenship

Rector Anne-Sophie Nyssen supports the motion of support for asylum seekers adopted on 20 December by the ULB Academic Council.

Citation

"Both personally and as Rector of ULiège, I fully share the indignation of our colleagues at ULB. The inaction of the competent Belgian authorities is unacceptable and incomprehensible. How can we fail to show humanity and understand the urgency of this human distress?

Anne-Sophie Nyssen, Rector of the ULiège

Motion of support to the asylum seekers of the ULB

The Academic Council of the Université libre de Bruxelles, meeting on December 19, 2022, adopted the following motion: We express our deep indignation at the failures of the Belgian State, and more particularly the inaction of the Secretary of State for Asylum and Immigration in supporting asylum seekers on our territory. In this month of December, as the frost settles in the country, 3000 people are deprived of their right to accommodation and a decent living, in contravention of Belgian law, transposing international and European obligations.
 

We hereby express our disapproval and our concern that the highest authorities of the State do not comply with our laws. The Belgian State, already condemned thousands of times for its failures by national and supranational jurisdictions, and while accepting these condemnations, refuses to comply with the injunction made to it to pay penalty payments. This dramatic and inhumane situation continues despite the multiple alerts launched by field organizations, such as Médecins du Monde, Samusocial, Médecins Sans Frontières and the CIRE.

Today, we, citizens, teachers, researchers, students, and administrative, technical, management and specialized staff, proclaim our refusal to allow this policy of non-action to continue in our name. We demand that those who have taken on the responsibility of dealing with this problem finally assume their full responsibility. Concrete solutions exist and can be implemented immediately, such as accommodation in hotels and the distribution of requests in the "CPAS" throughout the country. Beyond emergency solutions, only a structural response can guarantee a reception of asylum seekers that respects human dignity as well as the legal obligations in this matter.

 

Source : ULB

 

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